Tehran, Apocalypse
A novel about hatred in six episodes
In July 1924, the American couple Robert and Katherine Imbrie visit Tehran with no prior knowledge. The man wants to take photos at a Shia mass ceremony, and also aims to rescue a dog, but dies during the ensuing scuffle. In 1953, the CIA and the British intelligence manage to establish a subversive network among the opponents of the democratically elected Persian Prime Minister Mossadegh, leading to the overthrow of the legitimate government. This is followed by the reign of terror of the Shah and then that of the Ayatollahs. In 1978, a grandnephew of Robert Imbrie arrives in Tehran to investigate the violent death of his uncle. He has an affair with the Iranian Minâ, and both die in an attack on a restaurant that served as a meeting point for Americans. In 1988, Resâ, a resistance fighter against both the Shah regime, who has attempted to assassinate an American military attaché, and against the rule of the mullahs, and Minâ's twin brother, is killed in the regime's mass executions. The violence continues. In tightly woven and atmospherically thrilling episodes, Amir Hassan Cheheltan narrates from changing perspectives the dreams and traumas of a country that remains fixated on an external enemy and salvation from abroad after being deprived of its historical chance. Empathetic and knowledgeable, hovering between irony, harshness, and nostalgia, this novel is also a portrait of Tehran, one of the mega-cities where our future will be decided.

Tehran, Revolution Street
The well-off Fattah, although not a proper doctor, has risen to become a surgeon and clinic director. His specialty: stitching torn hymens back together. When he falls in love with one of his patients, the seventeen-year-old Shahrsad, who is promised to the young Mustafa, a conflict arises.